Tszyu Cup is back on Sep. 4!

By Alexey Sukachev

The third stage of the annual International Kostya Tszyu Cup will be held at Yubileyniy sports arena in Yugorsk, Russia, on the 4th of September and will be crowned with a crossroads collision of two young prospects willing to level-up their careers. The whole card was announced last weekend by its organizers. In the main event of the evening, Russian junior welterweight champion Fariz Kazimov (9-1-1, 2 KOs) will risk his belt against Ukrainian Anatoly Sidorov (4-1-1). These fighters share two distinctive features between each other – they are both foreigners, however licensed to compete in Russia, and they are both young, being just 22 and 21-years old respectively. Not only will the national belt be at stake this time, but the main prize and a future praise from the living legend are also up for grabs in this scheduled ten-rounder.

Kazimov, who is promoted by German Titov, is the native of Shamkir, Azerbaijan. He is currently on the winning streak, scoring three notable victories in a row. In his last fight this May, Kazimov replaced highly touted young gun Ruslan Provodnikov in the semifinal of 2009 Tszyu Cup and stopped previously unbeaten Russian Karen Tevosyan (11-1-3, 6 KOs) in seven back-and-forth rounds of action.

Anatoly Sidorov, who started his pro career in native Ukraine, was considered a huge underdog before the start of the tournament but quickly raised his stock after two consecutive masterful performances. In quarterfinal, Sidorov outpointed Albert Valeev (then 6-1) over six rounds and then repeated this trick against much tougher Timur Gimaev (8-1-1) in May semifinal. Not known for a hard punch, Sidorov is a blistering stylist with sound defensive and technical skills.

Two six-rounders will start the tournament. Welterweight Anton Alexeev (2-0, 1 KO) will test his skills against Evgeny Veniaminov (7-4-1, 2 KOs), while aforementioned Tevosyan is penciled to clash against Murad Bekov (4-2). Heavyweight debutantes Abdulmanem Kabbani (Syria) and Mals Kokoev of Vladikavkaz, Russia, will start the show in a pre-planned four-rounder.

The whole card is organized by the Tszyu Fund for Sport Support and Development and sponsored by Gazprom-Transgaz-Yugorsk and Stroymontazh. Promoter is Kira Plotnikova, while matchmakers are Stanislav Bukhlov and Andrey Katyshev. Doors are open at 6 PM LT; details can be cleared via the following phone: +7 922 480 34 44.